In order to consolidate its warehouse space back at its headquarters in Amstelveen, Dillewijn Zwapak decided to build a central distribution centre. The company commissioned the intralogistics specialist Dematic to automate the 10,000 square metre warehouse. Dematic developed a customised solution with an automated guided vehicle system (AGV) consisting of self-propelled narrow-aisle trucks as well as other automated fork lift trucks, pallet racking and a paternoster order-picking system. 

While flowers used to be wrapped in old newspapers to protect them from frost and damage, today’s packaging is far more innovative and sustainable. The specialist in this field is Dillewijn Zwapak B.V. The company’s 200 employees develop, produce and distribute containers for flowers and plants, floristry articles and decorative materials on a daily basis. The head office is in Amstelveen, close to the world’s largest flower auction site in Aalsmeer, with an annual turnover of 1.2 billion euros, and Schiphol Airport. It is part of the Van Dillewijn Group, which has its own production companies in Europe, Asia and Africa.

The prospects for the global ornamental plant market look bright for the coming years. Dillewijn Zwapak wants to drive its growth with innovations and process improvements. The starting point for this is the company’s new 10,000 square metre central distribution centre. “With the construction, we are realising three strategic goals: Sustainability, digitalisation and automation. We achieve sustainability through much greater storage capacity with a smaller footprint and various energy-saving solutions,” explains Mark de Krosse, Managing Director of Dillewijn Zwapak B.V.

The extensive selection process was also based on this strategic premise: “We specifically looked for suppliers who could offer us a customised automation solution from a single source,” recalls de Krosse. The choice was quickly made. “Dematic was the only supplier who could deliver and integrate the complete equipment for us,” says de Krosse about the decision. Together with the logistics automation company from Heusenstamm, Dillewijn Zwapak optimised the logistics processes by digitising all information and processes and automating them where possible. The major project had a comparatively short construction time of about one year. 

A special feature of this logistics project is the construction height of up to 18 metres and the choice of narrow aisles. The packaging specialist benefits from the compact storage capacities realised in this way by creating 12,500 pallet spaces. Around 11,000 of them were filled with goods in spring 2019. “This means that we still have 25 per cent remaining capacity for further growth,” says de Krosse, pleased to be prepared for the future with the Dematic solution. In order to optimise the material flow, the intralogistics specialist has integrated three logistics concepts at once: Fully automatic pallet loading and unloading, semi-automatic parcel picking and semi-automatic product picking. “This allows us to handle the orders flexibly,” says de Krosse.

This is a decisive competitive advantage, especially because the logistics processes at wholesale companies like Dillewijn Zwapak have a major influence on customer satisfaction. The packaging specialist’s clientele includes producers and retailers as well as end consumers.

The orders are received via the web shop. All orders are now forwarded to the Dematic Warehouse Management System (WMS) E’wms via the existing ERP system Microsoft Dynamics AX. This then controls and optimises the entire picking process.

For efficient order processing, the warehouse is divided into nine zones. Incoming pallets with products are first provided with an identification label and transferred to the Dematic E’wms. They are then distributed to different storage locations. Pallets destined for the bulk warehouse are automatically checked for length, width, height, weight and identity on a Dematic conveyor system. The AGVs then transport authorised pallets to the transition points for the storage rack. From there, automated narrow-aisle trucks move all pallets to the storage locations determined by the WMS. 

When picking customer orders from this storage area, the process is reversed. From the latter zone, they are loaded into trucks with manned forklifts, often in combination with products from other picking zones. 

An AGV, a conveyor belt for pallet feeding and control and an automated paternoster order-picking system are part of Dematic’s automation solution. The AGV comprises four automated hybrid narrow-aisle trucks, two semi-automated forklift trucks and four Dematic counterbalance AGVs in the special FLV 3612 version. As part of the KION Group, Dematic has the full range of intralogistics solutions in its product range and, as at Dillewijn Zwapak, equips forklift trucks from the KION Group with automation packages as required.

In the new distribution centre at Dillewijn Zwapak, an average of around 300 pallets are now stored and retrieved daily. Stocks are replenished in the evenings and at night. “The construction of our new head office and warehouse was long overdue,” reports de Krosse. 

The time pressure was especially great because the tenancy agreements at the former warehouse locations were expiring. The company was was bound by fixed deadlines. “Fortunately, Dematic worked quickly and solution-oriented and set up the new warehouse on time.” In the near future, the logistics systems will be further refined and made more transparent and accessible to the entire organisation.